There is less representation for transgender individuals. When it comes to queer stories in anime, the majority focus their narratives on gay and lesbian characters. Most recently, Ikuhara directed 2019’s Sarazanmai, which features a gay boy with a serious crush on his best friend.
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Deal with it.) He then directed 2015’s Yurikuma Arashi, another queer series dripping in metaphor and symbolism centered around lesbian bears (yes, you read that right). Rebecca Sugar, the creator of Steven Universe, has said that Utena was “ an epiphany for her.ĭirector Kunihiko Ikuhara has always celebrated queer characters in his works, before Utena, he oversaw the arcs in Sailor Moon that feature the iconic couple Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. The series is one of the most influential anime of all time, and is often cited as an inspiration by artists today. Utena arrived and challenged these norms that were trying to reestablish themselves. There was no time to explore sexuality, and the nation grasped at traditional patriarchal structures to provide stability in uncertain times. In the wake of the collapse, the blossoming counterculture and queer narratives that had made inroads, were displaced and returned to marginalized status as a recentering of “family values” took hold. This was largely due to the country’s economic bubble bursting, leading Japan into a deep recession. Japan in the 1990s was worlds apart from the excess and extravagance of the 1980s. At every turn, she refuses the role she is “expected to play” as a woman. What makes Utena an iconic character is her refusal to go along with the gender norms of her school, Ohtori Academy, and the challenge she presents to patriarchal structures: Utena wants to be a prince, despite being told that she can’t be one she refuses to wear the female school uniform, much to the chagrin of the school’s administration she is in a lesbian romance with Himemiya Anthy that forms the core relationship of the series she exhibits unladylike behavior by engaging in duels against combatants who challenge her love of Anthy. It’s best to just let the show do the talking. Explaining the plot of Revolutionary Girl Utena is a fool’s errand. A surrealist fairytale steeped in abstract visuals and layers of metaphor, Revolutionary Girl Utena tells the story of the eponymous Tenjou Utena as she searches for a mysterious prince who gave her a rose-engraved ring many years ago, though there is a lot more going on than just that. Written by Chiho Saito and directed by the legendary Kunihiko Ikuhara, 1997’s Revolutionary Girl Utena challenges gender norms and oozes with queer energy. This goes back well into Japanese history, when young men known as wakashu were considered to be Japan’s “third gender”, and continues in manga and anime today. The bishonen operates with a fluidity that defies classification. Occupying a space between male and female, the bishonen embodies all things beautiful and cares not for any notion of a gender binary. Drawn with feminine features, and in particular, the glittering, saucer-like eyes much more commonly seen on female characters of the time, Serge and Gilbert are prototypical examples of the bishonen, or “beautiful boy,” in anime. Compared to their classmates, Serge and Gilbert stand out. What is immediately apparent is how impossibly beautiful these boys are.
The star-crossed lovers at the center of the story are Serge Battour and his roommate, the mercurial Gilbert Cocteau. The story is set at a fictional all-boys boarding school in the south of France. Started as a manga by Keiko Takemiya in the 1970s, but airing as an Original Video Animation in 1987, The Song of Wind and Trees is one of earliest examples of what would now be considered a Boys’ Love anime. In many cases, anime has been the medium of choice to protest dominant political ideologies and championing queer characters in a society that refuses to acknowledge their existence. But anime has long been a place where queer expression flows freely.
The country remains conservative to this day, still not recognizing same-sex relationships and doing little to secure LGBTQ rights. The country would become critical of homosexuality and literature featuring queer themes, seeing queer life as deviant. During the Meiji Era of the late 19th century, Japan made a concerted effort to emulate Western attitudes of the time. Japan’s more recent history, however, is of a country that took a sharp turn towards conservative values. Same-sex relationships existed in the culture, and if you consider male Kabuki actors presenting as female in their everyday lives, as the famous Kabuki actor Yoshizawa Ayame did, there was at least a conversation to be had about transgender identity.
At one time, long ago, Japan had fairly open attitudes towards gender and sexuality.
Queerness in Japan has a tumultuous history.
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